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A group surrounds a harpsichord playing instruments
Music in the Royal Collection

Many members of the royal family were talented musicians

HILLS & SAUNDERS

The Queen's Sitting Room, Windsor Castle

c.1873

RCIN 2100564

Prince Consort's Sitting Room, Windsor, c.1860.©

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had pianos in their apartments in all of the palaces that they occupied. The great pianist and composer Sigismond Thalberg (1812–71), as Deputy Chairman of the Jury in Musical Instruments at the Great Exhibition observed that:

The social importance of the piano is beyond all question far greater than that of any other instrument […] By the use of the piano many who never visit the opera or concerts become thoroughly acquainted with the choicest dramatic and orchestral compositions.

Sigismond Thalberg 


    The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.